Body protective padding is commonly worn by participants of contact sports for the purpose of preventing injuries. In these contact sports, various situations may cause injuries. Examples of these situations include tackling or otherwise bumping into other players, falling to the ground, being struck by another player's equipment, or being struck by a game ball itself. Of course, body protective padding may reduce or prevent injuries resulting from various other circumstances, including those not associated with contact sports.
Existing body protective padding utilize a relatively significant amount of foam padding and layering of other materials for absorbing the energy of blows delivered to the body. As is known in the art, the amount of energy that can be absorbed is directly related to the thickness of the foam being used. Foam padding and layering of materials and its ability to absorb energy is directly related to its mass and its ability to deform.
A drawback of using a foam padding and layering of materials is its ability to absorb and displace energy is directly related to its mass and its ability to deform. This makes the padding thick and bulky and restricts the player's freedom of movement. Since absorbing and displacement of energy is needed to prevent injury and thin unrestricting athletic padding are known for allowing players freedom of movement, the foam padding and layering of other materials and its thick, bulky and restrictive properties are all undesirable results. Therefore, a need exists for body protective padding that can absorb and displace the energy from a powerful blow, is thin, not bulky and allows for greater freedom of movement.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved pad means particularly adapted for use in body protection.